# MacBaren Burley London Blend



## owaindav (Mar 7, 2010)

Well Nate, wait no longer! I popped my tin and loaded up a bowl this morning for the drive in.

Int the tin the aroma is ever so slightly sweet and very grassy meadow smelling. Not bad at all. Rough rubbed leaf similar to the other Mac's I've tried recently.

It lights easily and has decent moisture level. As I first start puffing, I get a very nutty flavor. It's really a rich smoke and some chocolate notes start coming through. Very nice.

After about a dozen or so draws I taste a familiar flavor. The same flavor from Peterson's Irish Whiskey that made me put that down. It starts off earthy and then tastes like scorched dirt. Made me think of Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans. Now, the flavor in BLB didn't get to the point of making me want to boot like Pete's IW did. So it makes me think that whatever this is, it can be mellowed with age. It also makes me wonder if this is some kind of whiskey topping in the Mac's. These are the only two tobaccos I've detected this in.

BLB bit quite a bit. (lol) Slower smoking made it less bitey but it's still there. I'm not going to give up on this but I am going to seal it up and let it get some age on it. We'll revisit this in 8-12 months. Somebody remind me.....


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

Nice. I think the hints of dirt you pick up are the cocoa back tones, maybe you are reacting to it differently? After smoking it for a while and letting it sit for a couple of weeks I really get the cocoa now.

Speaking of smoking it for a while...this tobacco has a huge caveat. When I first started smoking it I had it on my "buy more " list, but after a few bowls I took it off because of the nasty bite. However, i laid off of it for about 2 weeks then got back to it. The first bowl was excellent with no bite. It does get better over time even after a couple of weeks. However, I have had 1-2 bowls a day of BLB over the past couple of days and my tongue is now almost completely raw even though I wasn't smoking it exclusively (I was using it to build a good cake in the hot pipe I have). It's not because it burns hot, it's mildly warm on the tip of the tongue, there is something in this stuff that really bites hard, and it's a creeper bite. It doesn't hit you unless you have a couple of bowls in a couple of days.

I got my cooked tongue to calm down with a bowl of Bayou Morning this morning. Whoda thunk you could stop bite with another tobacco, but Bayou Morning stopped the sting.

I don't have much left in my tin of BLB, but it will be going back on the shelf for a while.


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## owaindav (Mar 7, 2010)

Yeah, I guess it would make some kind of sense to ease a chemical burn with another chemical. I think that's why Mac's bite so much. It's something they put in the tobacco.

MacBitten, MacShy? No so much for me. I like a couple of them enough to smoke more so far!


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

I think you are detecting what I call the classic Mac Baren essence. To me, it comes across as almost honey like however. I've noted it in several of their blends. One funny thing...Mac Barens almost never bite me. I find them all quite smooth actually. Must be a body chemistry thing.


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## owaindav (Mar 7, 2010)

indigosmoke said:


> I think you are detecting what I call the classic Mac Baren essence. To me, it comes across as almost honey like however. I've noted it in several of their blends. One funny thing...Mac Barens almost never bite me. I find them all quite smooth actually. Must be a body chemistry thing.


I think you are absolutely correct about the body chemistry. Which is why when you read reviews you really have to find someone whose taste is similar to yours and who get bite from similar tobaccos that you do in order to really get the full value of their review.

Oh, and honey is absolutely something I've tasted in most of the Mac's. I forgot to mention it in this one. Thanks for the reminder John!


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